Duke University Chapel hosts a public conversation with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and the Rev. William J. Barber II, "The Enduring Challenge of a Moral Economy: 50 Years After Dr. King Challenged Racism, Poverty, and Militarism." The event was to be part of Duke's 2018 Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration and Duke Chapel's Bridge Panel series, which seeks to connect people from disparate walks of life to discover shared pathways toward the community of God. "In joining with others to begin organizing the Poor People's Campaign 50 years ago, Dr. King was working out of a Christian conviction that racial equity, economic justice and peace among nations were interrelated issues -- and all matters of faith," said Chapel Dean Luke A. Powery, who moderated the talk held on April 20, 2018. "Through this public conversation, we have an opportunity to bring together the insights of a preacher and a politician on the present-day work toward a just, moral economy." Barber is a national co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, an initiative that aims to address issues of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation and the nation's morality. He is also the president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, a nonprofit organization that seeks to build a moral agenda. An alumnus of Duke Divinity School, Barber is the pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Sanders is an Independent senator from Vermont. His 2016 campaign for the Democratic nomination for president focused on policy issues that included universal health care, free tuition at public universities and a $15-per-hour minimum wage. He was first elected to public office in 1981 as mayor of Burlington, Vermont, and has since served 16 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and 11 years in the U.S. Senate. In addition to his role as dean of Duke Chapel, Powery is an associate professor of homiletics at Duke Divinity School. His most recent book is "Rise Up, Shepherd!: Advent Reflections on the Spirituals." Ordained to the Ministry by the Progressive National Baptist Convention, he was inducted in 2014 into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College for his ethical and spiritual leadership in the academy, church, and broader society. Co-sponsors of the event include Duke Divinity School and Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy and Office for Institutional Equity.
